Not Oklahoma or Alabama, the two teams most commonly picked No. 1 back in the preseason.

Not Boise State, which loses less often than any program in America.

And, by the end of Saturday night, not even Stanford—which kicked off vs. Oregon in prime time then was kicked around for three-plus hours while trying futilely to keep pace with LSU, Oklahoma State and Houston.

See Matt Hayes’ story on that 53-30 Ducks win—and its repercussions on the BCS title race—here.

Saturday afternoon came Boise State’s turn to fall. The fifth-ranked Broncos (8-1, 3-1 Mountain West) went down 36-35 to TCU (8-2, 5-0)—in a manner so heartbreaking it bordered on, frankly, the unbelievable.

Battling too many injuries to tick off here, they nevertheless held a 35-28 lead with a little over 2 minutes to play. That’s when third-string running back Drew Wright fumbled the ball away. But not the season—not yet.

The Horned Frogs still had 73 yards to go, and get every one of them they did. With just under a minute to play, TCU coach Gary Patterson elected to go for two—gutsy call, but really the only call to make in that situation—and Casey Pachall found Josh Boyce for the lead.

Last season it was Kyle Brotzman’s two short-range misses that cost the Broncos a BCS game. This time it was redshirt freshman Dan Goodale whose miss will keep BSU out of the BCS.

But it’s not about kickers. It’s about Moore—who could’ve had one of the greatest careers in college football history—sadly fading into the background. And it’s about BSU coach Chris Petersen, who incredibly suffered his first home loss in his six seasons.

No, wait. It’s about TCU, too. Of course it is. Because their win not only zapped the Broncos’ national title hopes, it also knocked them out of the Mountain West race.

Not a bad way for the Horned Frogs—who aren’t BCS-bound, either—to say so long to life in a non-BCS league.

Cowboys still up

Of all the teams ranked No. 2 in all the BCS standings since the creation of the current system, no one has ever been taken less seriously than the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

I don’t know about OSU’s defense. I don’t know if the Cowboys (10-0, 7-0) would be physical enough to bang—let alone hang—with LSU. I don’t know, and at the moment I don’t care.

Because I respect the hell out of Mike Gundy’s team. Every week, the Cowboys bring their best to the field—especially when that field is somewhere outside of Stillwater. On Saturday in Lubbock, OSU won its 10th straight road game: a hideous, 66-6 beatdown of Texas Tech (5-5, 2-5 Big 12) that, and I’m not kidding when I say this, wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.

By the way, how does this stat line look for Brandon Weeden?

Ahem: 31-of-37, 423 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions.

Not bad for an old guy. (Weeden, in case you’ve somehow missed it, is 28.)

Tubs’ schlubs

You know what Tommy Tuberville should’ve done ’round about the end of the third quarter? Told every one of his starters: “Great job today, fellas. I really appreciate it. The whole school and all of West Texas thanks you. Now please haul your butts off this field and out of this stadium right now, and don’t bother showing up to practice this week until you’re fully prepared to begin earning your way off the scout team.”

I’m serious. After Texas Tech’s zero-effort performance vs. Oklahoma State on Saturday, Tuberville’s scout-teamers should move up to second-string, the second-teamers should move up to first string, and the starters should be the new scout team.

Why?

Because the Red Raiders have become pathetic, that’s why. A team that began the season 4-0 and was good enough to win at Oklahoma has, since that trip to Norman, lost three straight by a combined score of 159-33.

In other words: Oklahoma was the Red Raiders’ bowl game. Now they’re vacationing in shoulder pads and helmets.

This and that

— I wonder if Saturday was an even bigger bummer for Cincinnati fans than the day Brian Kelly announced he was leaving to take the Notre Dame job. Here’s all that happened to the Bearcats (7-2, 3-1 Big East) vs. West Virginia (6-3, 3-2): They lost their quarterback, Zach Collaros, to a leg injury. They lost the game 24-21 when Tony Miliano’s 31-yard field goal attempt was blocked as time ran out. And they lost their stranglehold on first place in the conference?

Other than that, everything was great.

— So Clemson (9-1, 6-1) won a little ugly on Saturday, needing a last-play field goal by Chandler Catanzaro to top Wake Forest (5-5, 4-3) 31-28. So what? The Tigers don’t have to be perfect. They clinched first place in the Atlantic Division—which is all that matters—and almost surely will face Virginia Tech in the league title game in Charlotte. There’s zero chance the Hokies will fare as lamely as they did six weeks ago in a 23-3 loss to Clemson in Blacksburg.

— Twenty-seven touchdowns now for Wisconsin running back Montee Ball. That’s a Big Ten season record. It’s also pretty, you know, amazing. Who’s the real MVP for the Badgers (8-2, 4-2 Big Ten), Ball or Russell Wilson? Minnesota (2-8, 1-5) might call it a tie after Wilson’s four touchdown passes in a 42-13 victory for the team that’s back in charge of the Leaders Division. When—sorry, if—Wisconsin hammers Penn State (8-2, 5-1) in Madison on Nov. 26, it’ll set up a likely rematch with Michigan State (8-2, 5-1) in the inaugural league title game in Indianapolis.

— Look, don’t think for a second this paragraph exists merely so that the word Gaggies can be used. Texas A&M (5-5, 3-4) really gave it the ol’ college try in a 53-50 four-overtime loss at Kansas State (8-2, 5-2). You better believe it, buster. Gaggies. The Wildcats have proved themselves to be mighty tough to beat. To sum it up: Gaggies.

— Thanks for playing, South Carolina. But the SEC East title is 99.9 percent in Georgia’s possession. The Bulldogs (8-2, 6-1) wiped the field with Auburn (6-4, 4-3) in Athens, with Aaron Murray going off with four touchdown passes and the defense doing its thing. All that’s left before Georgia can look forward (easy for me to say) to the SEC championship game is a date with Kentucky. Come to think of it, giving the Wildcats a 0.01 percent chance in that game is far too generous.